Farnborough College of Technology is a college located in the town of

Farnborough, Hampshire Farnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, part of the borough of Rushmoor and the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area. Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is formed fro ...

in the South East of England. Although primarily a

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

college, Farnborough College of Technology also has a University Centre (University Centre Farnborough) which offers a range of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

courses, accredited by the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

. Farnborough College of Technology has a second campus located in the town of

Aldershot, Hampshire Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alde ...

in the South East of England, known as Aldershot College. In 2011, Farnborough College of Technology was rated 'Outstanding' by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

History

1.1 Farnborough College of Technology The roots of the college date back to 1913 when the War Office authorised classes to be held at the

Royal Aircraft Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

, based at

Farnborough Airfield Farnborough Airport (previously called: TAG Farnborough Airport, RAE Farnborough, ICAO Code EGLF) is an operational business/executive general aviation airport in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England. The airport covers about 8% of Rush ...

. In 1944 this became an independent

technical school In the United States, a technical school is a type of two-year college that covers specialized fields such as business, finance, hospitality, tourism, construction, engineering, visual arts, information technology and community work. Associa ...

known as the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Technical College. In 1957, a separate college known as Farnborough Tech was established on an adjacent area of land. In 1960, the RAE Technical School merged with Farnborough Tech to form Farnborough College of Technology. In 1967, engineering students from the college staged an elaborate hoax by placing six model

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has ...

s across southern England as a

rag week Rags are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Some are run as student societies whilst others sit with campaigns within their student unions. Most universities in the UK and Irela ...

stunt. The emergency and military services took them seriously for some hours. The hoax was only made public by

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

in 2011. Today, Farnborough College of Technology offers a range of qualification levels, including: *

Access to Higher Education The Access to Higher Education (HE) Diploma is a U.K. qualification which prepares students — usually 19+ — for study as an undergraduate at university. The diploma is designed for people who would like to study in higher education but who le ...

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

Apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

s * BTEC * Professional Courses (

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

CIPD The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an association for human resource management professionals. Its headquarters are in Wimbledon, London, England. The organisation was founded in 1913 - it is the world's oldest associa ...

, CIM, PGCE) 1.2 Aldershot College In 2005, Farnborough College of Technology purchased a site in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and Aldershot College was formed. Aldershot College specialises in

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

courses and offers

further Further or Furthur may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus * Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band * Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh * ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers a ...

and

courses, and

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

s. 1.3 University Centre Farnborough In 2013, the University Centre Farnborough was launched, offering

accredited degrees from the Farnborough College of Technology main campus. The college constructed a University Centre building on the main campus in 2016. The building is home to a library, study areas and a

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...

franchise and was officially opened by the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwar ...

in November 2017. University Centre Farnborough offers

foundation degree A foundation degree is a combined academic and vocational qualification in higher education in the United Kingdom, equivalent to two-thirds of an honours bachelor's degree, introduced by the Department for Education and Employment in 2000. Fou ...

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

s, including two-year fast-track degrees, and top-up degrees.

Facilities

The main campus at Boundary Road, Farnborough provides vocational training and education. Specialist teaching facilities include The Gallery Restaurant, The Hair and Beauty Academy salon, Beyond Fitness Gym, The Aerospace and Automotive Academy, a performance theatre, a floristry studio, a photography studio and dark room, a multi-camera television studio, and two radio studios. The salon, restaurant and floristry studio operate commercially and are open to the public. The college radio studios are used for 26 days in March each year to broadcast FCOT FM 87.7, the college's commercial radio station which operates under a Restricted Service Licence. The main campus also has an on-site Ofsted-registered Nursery (Bookworms Nursery) which provides childcare for the children of students, staff and local families.

Structure

The academic activities of the college are divided into five academic faculties: * Academic Studies * Engineering, Construction and Commercial Service * Enterprise, Creative and Sport * Preparation for Work and Life Skills * Higher Education

Notable alumni

Former students of the college include Former NBA player

Joel Freeland Joel Daniel Freeland (born 7 February 1987) is a British former professional basketball player who last played for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. Standing at , he played at the power forward and center positions. He also represented the ...

and musician

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

of the bands

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

and

Mike + The Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) is an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his earlier group Genesis. The band is known for hit si ...

, as well as

Diane Youdale Diane Patricia Youdale (born 13 February 1970) is an English television personality, who is best known for her role as Jet on the television series '' Gladiators.'' Career In 1990, Youdale played the She-Wolf in the Finnegan/Pinchuk Company, ...

and Mark Griffin who appeared in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

television series ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'' as Jet and Trojan respectively. DJ

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

earned a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Radio at FCOT, before going on to have her own show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

. In an interview, she referred to her time at Farnborough as "the biggest culture-shock

he'd A contraction is a shortened version of the spoken and written forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters and sounds. In linguistic analysis, contractions should not be confused with crasis, abbreviations ...

ever experienced in erlife". Musician and author

Alan Clayson Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as ...

studied at FCOT from 1968 to 1970. Three members of

The Football Ramble ''The Football Ramble'' is a podcast, book and website about association football, produced in London by The Football Ramble Ltd. Originally provided fortnightly, this was increased to a weekly show at the beginning of the 09/10 football seas ...

, the largest independent

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

in the UK studied at the college. Luke Moore, Marcus Speller and Jim Campbell all met at FCOT and studied there between 2000 and 2003. Moore and Speller both featured on the college radio station, co-hosting the Saturday Sports Show. David Wells is most famous for working as a medium for the British paranormal investigation TV programme ''

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. Following complaints, the broadcast regulator, Ofcom, ruled that it was an entertainment show, not a legitimate investigation into the paranormal, and "should not be taken s ...

''. Wells studied at FCOT, undertaking an HND in Leisure and Tourism. In Series 5 of ''

Most Haunted Live! ''Most Haunted Live'' is a spin-off of the paranormal reality television series '' Most Haunted'' and was also produced by Antix Productions. The show consists of paranormal investigations broadcast live over a period of one or more nights, ...

'' Access All Areas, Wells mentions he did a piece on both the Kings Theatre in Southsea, and on the

New Theatre Royal The New Theatre Royal is a Victorian Grade II* listed theatre in the heart of Portsmouth, England, with a capacity of 667. The theatre building was constructed in 1854 as Landport Hall. It was converted to a theatre two years later. It was ...

in Portsmouth, as part of his HND at FCOT.

References

External links

Farnborough College of Technology
official website
Farnborough College of Technology
in the 2008 league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Farnborough College of Technology Further education colleges in Hampshire Educational institutions established in 1957 1957 establishments in England Farnborough, Hampshire